


Picking Up the Pieces

by badritual



Category: General Hospital (TV 1963)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Don't copy to another site, F/M, Getting Back Together, Not Beta Read, Slow To Update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:48:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29421837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badritual/pseuds/badritual
Summary: After a few years of deprogramming, therapy, and recuperation, Dante is finally ready to come home and begin to repair the shattered life he left behind. But he finds Lulu is no longer waiting for him, forever having turned out to be too long.Meanwhile, Valerie is also back in town after several months away due to an absence shrouded in secrecy and mystery.When these two lost souls stumble into each other, old memories come to the surface…and long-suppressed passions are reignited.currently unfinished, might add more and/or even complete it at some point.
Relationships: Dante Falconeri/Valerie Spencer, past Dante Falconeri/Lulu Spencer, past Kristina Davis/Valerie Spencer
Kudos: 2





	1. Unexpected Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> I forgot I'd started writing this! lol.
> 
> I’m still picturing Valerie being played by Brytni. (And Dom as Dante of course.)

Valerie couldn’t wait to finally— _finally_ —lay her head down on her own pillow and go to sleep in her own bed. It had been way too long since she felt her own sheets against her skin, or caught a glimpse of the familiar view of the tree-lined out of her apartment window. She hadn’t realized how much she missed it until the date of her return was finally here and she suddenly felt so overwhelmed. 

Maybe when she finally got back home, she could begin to put the past few hectic months of her life behind her.

Valerie shouldered the strap of her carry-on bag and walked down the long tunnel leading from the airplane that had just brought her back to Port Charles.

Port Charles, the place that bore witness to some of her highest highs—and almost all of her lowest lows.

Valerie emerged from the tunnel and frowned; her ride wasn’t here. The driver had assured her he would be waiting to take her to the MetroCourt hotel but there was no one waiting for her. 

Where was her ride?

Sighing, Valerie opened her purse and began digging around for her phone. At that exact moment, someone bumped into her and her cell phone went flying, landing on the linoleum tile with a resounding crack. 

“Crap,” Valerie muttered, watching with dismay as her phone’s cheap plastic case split open and the glass screen shattered into pieces.

A hand landed lightly on her arm. “Hey, sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was…going…”

Valerie looked up to find herself staring into a set of familiar dark eyes. 

“Dante?” Valerie asked, her phone momentarily forgotten, lapsing into silence.

Dante stared back, having similarly been stunned into silence. “Valerie,” he finally said, a smile twitching briefly at the corners of his mouth. “How’ve you been?”

Valerie mirrored a tentative smile back at Dante. “I—I’ve been okay,” she said, awkwardly, though she quickly covered it up with a cough. “You? I heard you left town. You’re back now?”

Dante gave her a slight nod and another twitch of the lips into something that wasn’t exactly a smile. “Yeah. I—I had to go, clear my head a little bit,” he said, reluctantly, as if this wasn’t something easy for him to talk about. He crossed his arms over his chest, almost defensively. “What about you? Off traveling on some great adventure?”

Valerie forced a laugh and pasted a smile onto her face. “I wish,” she said, with another sigh. “It… It’s a long story and one you probably don’t want to hear about. I wouldn’t want to blab your ear off when you just got back into town. I’m sure you have places to be. People to see.”

Dante shifted his weight uneasily and rubbed his palms together and it was only then that Valerie noticed how jittery he seemed. And that he wasn’t wearing his wedding ring. She didn’t have long to puzzle over this because he shoved his hands into his pockets and straightened his posture.

He looked good, his hair a little longer than the last time she’d seen him, lightly brushing the top of his collar. His chin was dusted with a few days’ worth of stubble. 

Valerie mentally amended the thought: Dante looked _really_ good. 

And yet… There was something about him that seemed vaguely _haunted_.

“Actually, I don’t,” Dante said. 

“No?” Valerie wanted to press on, ask if he and Lulu were doing okay, but judging by the fact he was ringless… She decided to let it pass without comment. “I need to call an Uber. But, in the meantime, maybe we could get some drinks at the airport bar and catch up. If you don’t mind, of course.”

For the first time all night, it seemed, Dante offered up a genuine smile. And Valerie felt one growing on her own face at the sight.


	2. Catching Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _She couldn’t tell him she wasn’t a cop anymore, that she’d left the force long before she went off on her extended vacation. She knew it was silly and childish to lap up Dante’s praise like a parched woman in a desert, but it made her feel_ good. _As if she’d genuinely accomplished something she could be proud of instead of…everything that had actually happened to precipitate her departure._

Valerie stirred her pink straw in her drink and leaned forward on the bar, propping her chin in her hand. “So,” she said, ducking her head to take a sip of her cocktail. “That’s the whole sordid story. Why I’ve been out of town for the last four months.”

Dante sat back on his stool and rested his hands on the lacquered bar top. “They had you going undercover?” he asked, and Valerie turned toward him at that.

He sounded—he sounded distant. Lost in his own little world, almost. And when she looked at him, she _felt_ like he was suddenly very far away from her. Valerie scrutinized him, wondering, pondering. She hadn’t wanted to pressure him to open up to her if he didn’t feel up to it, but that didn’t stop her from being curious. 

At least her story hadn’t been true. The PCPD hadn’t sent her undercover. In fact, they hadn’t sent her anywhere. The real story was way more embarrassing, and there was no way in hell Valerie was going to be telling anyone where she truly was, least of all Dante. 

“Yeah,” she lied, glancing down, the guilt burning hot in her cheeks. “It went sideways at the end but… At least I did my job. We got the guy who was tampering with the baby formula. He’ll never hurt anyone ever again.”

“That—that’s real good, Valerie,” Dante said, reaching out a hand like he was going to pat her on the arm before he just let it drift back down to the bar top. “I’m proud of you. I always knew you’d be a good cop.”

Valerie lifted her head and flashed him a small smile. “Thanks, Dante.” 

She couldn’t tell him she wasn’t a cop anymore, that she’d left the force long before she went off on her extended vacation. She knew it was silly and childish to lap up Dante’s praise like a parched woman in a desert, but it made her feel _good_. As if she’d genuinely accomplished something she could be proud of instead of…everything that had actually happened to precipitate her departure.

“Now,” Valerie said, leaning closer to Dante, bumping into his shoulder with her own. “What about you?”

Dante glanced up. “What _about_ me?” He sounded genuinely surprised she was asking about him.

“What were _you_ up to?” Valerie asked.

Dante reached up and tugged at the hair at the back of his neck. Again, Valerie couldn’t help but notice the empty strip of skin on his ring finger. 

Dante flicked his tongue out of his mouth to run it along his bottom lip nervously, still tugging his fingers through his hair. “I—ah, it’s not important,” he said, evasively. 

“All right,” Valerie said, touching his arm lightly. “If you’re not up to talking about it, I won’t push.”

Dante glanced at her, his eyes shining with what looked a lot like relief. “I appreciate it,” he said. “It’s not that I _don’t_ want to talk about it, it’s just that… I can’t.”

“It’s classified?” Valerie offered Dante a smile. 

“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” he said, and he ducked his head but she could see the beginnings of a real smile on his lips too.


End file.
